Entropy
by ShamMage
Summary: Alex Rider makes a friend of the strange, sarcastic Harry Potter on his plane trip to America. He just never expects to see him again. But in a twist of fate, it turns out that he is headed exactly where he is: the top secret government meeting that proposes the crazy idea of a seven man team dedicated to taking down dark lords and annoying crime syndicates. Yeah. Chaos, anyone?
1. Chapter 1

**Characters: Alex Rider, Jack Starbright, and Harry Potter**

**Warnings (Chapter): Swearing**

**Warnings (Story): Possible slash**

**Word Count: 2,217**

* * *

"Eight A, Eight B. Eight A, Eight B…" Jack Starbright muttered repeatedly to herself as she scanned for their designated seats, moving hurriedly down the narrow aisle of the mid-sized plane that she and her fourteen year old ward had just boarded.

Said ward followed behind her at a more sedate pace, one hand stuck casually in his pocket. He wore a slight grin as he watched his guardian glare viciously at a tall man in a suit and tie who was trying to steal her space in the overhead luggage compartment.

Who knew that Jack was such a harried flyer?

"Let me get that." Alex offered as he approached, grabbing the surprisingly bulky tote bag she had been lugging behind her. This was his first encounter handling the carry-on, Jack earlier having protested adamantly about anyone, but _her_ taking charge of the bag. His many attempts to help her with it had been gunned down faster than a plane in enemy territory. Alex was now honestly worried as to what she had contained within it…

"Thank you Alex," Jack growled. "At least _you're_polite!" At this she shot an evil glare in the direction of Mr. Suit and Tie, making the man scowl back and retreat further down the aisle in search of more people to cheat out of their rightful repositories. Though it really wasn't needed considering the fact that they were among the first to board the plane, leaving quite a bit of room for them all. Alex supposed that he just had a lot of luggage. Or, you know, something…

"The nerve of that man!" The red-head fumed, immediately reaching to take back her luggage. "He could _clearly_see that it was _my_space, and that I was trying to put my stuff up there! Hmph!"

In a surprising display of strength, she heaved the bag up off the floor and into the overhead compartment. Alex blinked.

"So I'm guessing that you _won't_need help with that?"

"Oh, sit down!" Jack grumbled, lightly shoving the teen into their row.

"Ooh, window seat."

"On second thought, no!" She pulled him back out again and hurried in first, plunking herself down in the far seat, which had just been claimed previously by her young ward. _"I_ want the window seat." She smirked triumphantly at the fair-haired teen.

"Okay, that is _no _fair!" Alex objected, though he sat down next to her anyway, swinging his small rucksack off his back and carefully stowing it underneath the seat in front of him.

"Life's not fair." She commented blithely, pulling out the in-flight magazine that was stored in the pouch attached to the back of the seat in front of her. She started to flip through it as Alex settled himself down, finding the most comfortable position that he could on the hard cushions. Might as well get themselves set before the barrage of people swarmed onto the plane with them, and stole their peace.

Both of their activities were suddenly interrupted by the presence of another passenger as he stopped at the end of their aisle, and his jaunty greeting, "Pardon me, but I think that I have the pleasure of sitting with you two."

Alex, paranoid, suspicious, spy Alex, automatically gave the man an initial once-over, taking in his stance, expression, and the (thankful) lack of weapon-like bulges under his clothes. Then, relaxing slightly, he gave him a more thorough inspection. Jack just turned red.

Casual, white-washed jeans, well fitted. A comfortable yet stylish cotton button up, along with a seemingly expensive brown cloth jacket framing his shoulders. A watch, digital, set to military time, coupled with well worn, yet somehow fashionable construction boots, probably once belonging to his father. Overall his appearance subtly indicated the presence of money though the apparent favoring of comfort and function over flash.

"It's our pleasure, I'm sure." Alex replied, managing a smile as best he could. Social interactions definitely weren't his best area, but he honestly did try.

The man grinned and flopped down into the end seat, dropping his bag down under his feet with a thump. He offered his hand to the teen while flicking his dark brown hair out of his eyes in a practiced yet unconscious movement.

"Derek Chaplin."

Alex cautiously shook his hand, and offered back.

"Alex Rider. This is my housekeeper, Jack Starbright."

Jack flushed, but spoke up. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Chaplin."

The man chuckled. "Please, call me Derek. Mr. Chaplin is my father." He smiled at her. "And anyway, I don't think that I'm that much older than you. But of course, I could be wrong; you have a very youthful appearance."

_Oh God._ Alex thought to himself as Jack's face reddened, on par with her fiery hair. _This is going to be a loooong trip._

* * *

Seven minutes.

Seven. _Minutes. _

Oh my God, had it really only been seven minutes? Alex tried to ward the glum expression off his face by taking a sip of water from his water bottle. This was worse torture than dangling above those bloody crocodiles he'd faced not weeks before. God.

"Oh, so you like photography?"

Jack beamed. "Well, I've just started taking pictures, but I really do love to capture pictures in nature, especially, like, macro style, as well as panoramic photos."

Alex leaned back as far as he could, so that it was easier for the two of them to talk to each other. They had to talk around him, because he was right in between the two, but really, he could do nothing about it! They had just taken off from the ground, and they were not allowed to 'move around the cabin' just yet. Sigh.

"Carving? No way!"

"Haha, yes way! My dad was the one who got me into it. He's an architect, and he's really into woodwork…"

Alex did his best to tune them out. He felt a little awkward, intruding in on his guardian's flirting session… He closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself in a different setting. Maybe on a nice, deserted island. But actually, that would be pretty bad… Boredom is a severe ailment that he struggles with on a near daily basis. Alex frowned. He supposed that he could draw in the sand or something, but he knows that that isn't as easy as it sounds. And if it was deserted, there was no guarantee that there would be anything edible for him! Hmm…

Maybe a cruise ship or something.

* * *

As soon as the no seatbelt light dinged on overhead, Alex was up.

"Hey guys, I think I'm just going to go to the loo and just, you know, go talk to that lady over there," He rambled as he hurriedly unclicked his seatbelt and grabbed his rucksack. "Maybe do some super flexible yoga with her or something, I don't know. Bake an imaginary cake. Who doesn't like cake?"

Jack tore herself away from her conversation with Derek for a moment, turning to look at the teen, a poorly concealed frown tugging down her brows with worry.

"I'll be fine, Jack." Alex told her before she could say anything. "I'll just be near the back of the plane in an empty seat or something if you need me. Yoga needs space."

Jack bit her lip. "As long as you're careful." She conceded reluctantly.

"I'll be not thirty feet away." Alex promised. "And I'm always careful."

Jack snorted, though it was a sound tinged with bitterness. "I know."

Derek was watching them both with curious confusion in his blue eyes, though he restrained himself from saying anything.

Alex shrugged. "Well, anyhow." He leaned down and gave her a quick hug before taking his leave.

"Good luck with Derek," he said quietly into her ear. "I dare you to ask him for his phone number."

He then promptly scooted himself out of their aisle, leaving a brightly flushed Jack behind him, her eyes wide and studiously avoiding the gaze of a curious Derek Chaplin.

Man, was he glad to have his space from those two! Alex thought to himself as he strolled down the plane's corridor, scanning for an open seat that he could move to. There was hardly any space near the front of the plane, but nearer to the back it was a bit less crowded with only a few passengers scattered about. Sadly, there was no completely empty row…

After considering and discarding many available seats, he decided that his best bet was next to the strangely unaccompanied teenaged boy who was furiously mashing the buttons of his DS game console and seemingly swearing furiously at the screen. Even if he did seem to have some unresolved anger management issues…

Alex approached the dark haired boy silently and gracefully sat down a seat away from him.

"Son of a mother fucking, two faced, two bit, bitch!" The boy cursed, frantically pressing buttons. "Don't crash, you _stupid_ dinosaur, don't you dare fucking crash!"

Alex watched him, a brow raised.

"Aw, come on! Seriously?" The teenager hissed, throwing his hands up in the air in disgusted dismay and letting the game console fall into his lap. It beeped mocking defeat up at him.

The boy suddenly spotted Alex, and flushed in embarrassment. "H-how long were you sitting there?" He cried, seeming nowhere near as irate as he was moments before.

"Less than a minute," Alex reassured him.

"Well shoot, at least you didn't catch _too _much of my humiliation." The boy mumbled, his face pink.

"Only a minor amount." Alex offered him an encouraging smile.

He just groaned and slumped further down in his seat. "It's not even my fault!" He said defensively. "It's not like I know how to play the bloody game!"

"And what game would that be?"

"Mario Kart. You, like, drive around in golf carts and, well, yeah…"

"I've heard of it." Alex told him, amused. "You've never played before?"

The boy sighed. "No. And I've never actually played on a DS before, either…"

But looking at the badly scratched and cracked casing of the console, this certainly did not seem to be the case.

"It's my cousin's." The dark haired boy supplied, noticing Alex looking. "So's the actual game…"

"And he or she did not explain it all to you?" The fair haired of the two asked curiously.

"Dudley and I don't exactly get along." The boy sighed, before coloring. "And, well, I kind of, you know," he coughed awkwardly. "Stole it from him without asking."

"You delinquent." Alex grinned teasingly, not missing a beat.

"Oh shut up." The boy grumbled back good-naturedly. "It's not like he was ever going to _use _it anyway…"

"There's no need to justify yourself to me, kid." Alex smirked. "Only the guilty ever try to do that, anyway."

"My name is _Harry_ and I'm not justifying myself!" He protested. "I'm just explaining so you don't think that I'm a thief or anything!"

"Technically you are." Alex began, but shut up with an audible click of his jaw at the death glare that Harry sent his way. "Umm… I'm Alex?"

"It's a pleasure."

"It doesn't _sound_ as if you think so."

"Really? Whatever gave you that impression?"

"Probably the malevolent tone of voice, but that's just my guess."

"It was a good one. How old are you anyway?" Harry abruptly asked him, disrupting their flow of banter.

Alex shrugged. "Fourteen. You?"

"Same!"

"Are you sure? You're a bit short for fourteen."

"You're a bit stupid for fourteen."

"Now now, Harry." Alex tutted. "That was uncalled for."

"What was uncalled for was your slam about my height!"

"Hey! It wasn't a slam, it was an observation!"

"It suuuure didn't sound like it!"

"For real? And here I thought that it was said in a nice, loving tone of voice."

"Alex, your use of sarcasm was completely and totally unneeded."

"Harry, your words of wisdom were anything but."

"My God, would both of you shut the hell up?!" The man seated directly in front of them snarled as he whipped around to face them, a furious glare on his face. "You two idiots are giving me a fucking headache!"

"If you find some manners, we'll think about it." Alex commented with a twinkle in his eyes. "And sir, I must ask, but did you bathe today? Because your personality stinks."

"And maybe try some plastic surgery while you're looking, you oversized, arsefucked pillock..." Harry added under his breath. "God damn!"

"Harry, that was uncalled for," Alex reproached, ignoring the bright red, gaping face of the furious man in front of them. "Perhaps the poor man can't help being fat. What if he has some sort of disease!"

Harry swallowed a smirk. "Then bully for him, eh? His nasty personality is poisonous enough to the surroundings that I truly don't care." He glanced at the man in distaste. "My God, I can literally feel my intelligence sapping away with every moment I keep looking at you." He shuddered. "I think that if I were like you, I would kill myself."

Alex couldn't bite back the slip of laughter that escaped from his mouth. He got the feeling that he and Harry were going to be getting along _very _well!

* * *

**I've been wanting to write this story for a long time! :D Also, in the future, there shall possibly be SLASH. I view Harry as gay for sure and Alex sort of asexual, so if there are any pairings, they'll be boyxboy. But nothing serious, I don't think, don't worry. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

"That's stupid."

"No it's _not, _Harry! It's ingenious!"

"No, Alex, it's stupid." Harry responded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why didn't he just _pretend _to join Darth Vader? And then he could have, like, just gotten away later?"

Alex gaped at him in pure and utter disbelief.

"_Harry!_" The boy gasped. "The Force was obviously telling him that he had to leave immediately! If he had even _considered _joining the Dark Side, he could have been _corrupted! _The Dark Side has addictive power, everyone knows that!"

"Right." Harry said, giving the other teen a doubtful look.

"You're just jealous that you have no Midi-chlorians in your blood." Alex sniffed, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly.

"I don't even know what those _are_." Harry groaned in aggravation.

"Oh my _God!" _Alex cried. "Have you been listening to _anything_ at _all _that I've told you in the past thirty minutes?!"

"No, not really." Harry deadpanned.

"Ugh," Alex groaned, going limp in his seat. "I give up. I _still _can't believe that you've never seen any of the Star Wars episodes…"

"If I'd known that you were such a freaky nerd about it, I wouldn't have said anything." The messy-haired teen muttered, eying his companion suspiciously, afraid that he was going to perhaps go off on another tirade.

"If I'd known that you were just going to completely disregard my words, I would have just waited for a different time to enlighten you on the goodness of the Star Wars universe. Because might I say that you, my friend, are woefully uneducated on matters of such great importance."

Harry rolled his eyes. It was rather hard to believe that the stand-offish and put-together teen that he had first talked to was hiding such a childish and obsessively neurotic personality. _Really._ _Muggles._

"Hey, if you were going to have a lightsaber, what color would you want it to be?"

"Pink."

"I- no- there _is _no pink lightsaber, Harry." Alex told his companion, frowning.

"Well I would make one." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"But you don't even know what Midi-chlorians are, how are you going to be knowledgeable enough to do that?" Harry glared at the blond for his condescending tone.

"I'm a fucking magician, bitch. I'll be able to make one, trust me."

Alex's eyes widened. "You can only be a magician if you're a Sith though!"

"Then I guess I'll just have to be a Sith then, won't I?" Harry eyed his companion, rather unsure if he was actually joking or not.

"Ah, but then that brings up another issue, then," Alex stroked his chin in thought. "Typically Sith wield _red _lightsabers, because of the fact that the crystals that they use in their lightsabers are actually synthetic… And they end up red because of the specific forging process… So I'm thinking that you're in a bit of a conundrum, here."

The wizard groaned. "_Seriously?_"

"Seriously." The blond nodded solemnly.

"Ugh. So I just won't be a Sith then!"

"Mate, really, I told you, you _have _to be a Sith because you're a _magician_. Come on!"

"Well, if I'm a magician, then why can't I just use my _magic_ to make my lightsaber pink?! I'm a freaking _magician!"_

Alex clapped a hand to his forehead. "My God, of course! Why didn't I see it before! Bloody hell! Duh!" He grinned at Harry. "I am thinking that that just might be the solution!"

"Well thank the bloody heavens for that!" Harry cried, throwing his hands up in the air. "I was starting to think that there was just no end to our problems!"

Alex paused. He frowned down his nose at the shorter boy.

"Harry, I can't help but think that you are making fun of me."

"Oh no, of course not." He swore adamantly, his eyes wide. "Like, I would _never _do that."

"Yeah, see, somehow that doesn't really reassure me." The spy gave him a look.

"So what color lightsaber would you want?" Harry asked quickly, quickly shaking off the feeling of foreboding that crept upon him with that look.

Alex visibly brightened. "Oh, well, I would _totally _like a blue lightsaber! And I mean a _blue _blue lightsaber. Not a traditional blue one though, you know? Maybe one like Anakin Skywalker had, in color I mean. That one was dark, you know? But oh-! No no no! I changed my mind a little while ago, actually! I wanted a blue lightsaber with a black core! Those look freaking cool! Ohmigosh, have you seen one? They are, like, lightsabers that Jedi use but they _look _like something that a Sith would use as well, you know? And-"

As Alex chattered on, Harry contemplated briefly telling him that _no, _he did _not _know any of this, and would you please slow down so I can actually hear what you're saying, but he quickly dismissed the thought. It would probably be best to just let him run out of steam.

Harry just nodded seriously whenever Alex glanced at him to see if he was actually listening, adopted an expression of great interest, and nodded at the appropriate intervals. It's not that he _wasn't _interested, of course, it was just that this was a _lot _to take in. A lot.

"-and so then Jacen actually _became _Dath Caedus, which was a complete _shocker _to me, of course, because oh my _gosh_, he's Leia and Han's _son_ for Christ's sake, and he even _learned_ under_ Luke_, but he _still _turned Sith, though I actually saw it coming, what with the way that he dealt with-"

"Do either of you two want a drink?" The polite voice interrupted Alex from his wild tirade, and both of the teen's heads snapped up, their bodies tensing. They hadn't even heard the woman approaching.

They both stared at her for a moment, not saying anything. Her smile became strained. "Um, water? Juice? Pop?"

She was dressed in a stewardess's outfit, but from the awkward way she seemed to be holding herself, Harry guessed that she probably hadn't been at it for long. Her hand subconsciously raised to fiddle with a loose strand of blond hair and she gave them a nervous look.

They snapped out of it.

"Um, I'll have some water, please." Harry said politely.

"Just some pop for me."

She poured them their drinks and handed them to the teens along with a napkin each.

"Thanks."

They sat quietly for a few minutes as she continued on down the aisle, literally handing out drinks left and right. For some reason Harry suddenly felt awkward.

"So, um…" He fidgeted, trying to think of something to say. Nothing came to mind.

"I was just messing with you, you know." Alex spoke suddenly. The blond haired boy glanced at him for a moment before taking a short sip of his pop. He looked faintly guilty.

Harry blinked at him but didn't speak, waiting for him to elaborate.

"You really can have a pink lightsaber…"

Harry facepalmed.

* * *

"If you could have any pet in the world, what pet would you want to have?"

Harry tapped a finger to his bottom lip. "Ooh, hard question…" He thought for a moment. "I don't know, maybe a dog? Although, well, I already sort of have a dog, kind of. Maybe."

Alex stared at him. "Okay, that's a lot of confusion for something that should be pretty simple. How can you _sort of _have a dog?"

"Kind of, maybe." Harry reminded him.

"Right."

The other boy shrugged. "Well, the dog is _kind of _my godfather's dog, in a way, and my godfather belongs to me, _sooo…"_

"Human trafficker."

The light taunt slipped out of him before he could stop it. Snarky comments had become a natural defense for him over the years, a way for him to protect himself from pervasive words that wriggled past his cracked wall of protection.

_Godfather. _What a word.

_Ash._ What a person…

Harry glared at him. He didn't mind.

"Sorry." He shrugged. (_No he wasn't.)_ "So, um, if you don't mind me asking, what's your godfather like?"

_What are godfathers supposed to be like?_

Harry paused and looked at him for a moment. Alex had the uncomfortable feeling as if the other boy was staring into his soul. Bright green, searching dark brown.

Wizard on Spy.

Death on Death.

"He's compassionate." Harry said finally, making Alex let out a silent breath. Harry _really _had an unnerving stare… Freaking _laserbeam _eyes… And people said that _he _was creepy…

"Compassionate how?"

Harry shrugged, picking listlessly at a stray thread on the sleeve of his hoodie. Alex didn't think that he even knew what he was doing.

"He just is. He cares so _much _about what he believes in." He lapsed into silence for a moment, deep in thought. "He cares about _me_." He said quietly.

Alex stayed silent. He knew that something was up, and it wasn't just because he was SpecOps. Anyone with a brain would be able to tell that there was something going on.

The blond decided that he wasn't the only one with godfather issues.

"So… He's nice to you?" He proposed cautiously, unsure as to what subjects he should not touch on, and feeling as though he should be walking on eggshells around this matter.

Harry shrugged and gave a small grin. "He is. And he sees me for me, you know? Not for who he thinks I should be, and not for who my father was… It's a novel experience, for sure."

Basically, absolutely none of those words made any sense to Alex. Clearly there was something deeper that this conversation alluded to, but Alex had no bloody clue as to what that might be. But as to the way Harry was speaking, it appeared as if he had been waiting for a change to pour all of these thoughts and feelings out to someone, and just had never been able to before. And now here Alex was, a virtual stranger whom he didn't even know the last name of, one whom he would never see again after this flight. Hell, they didn't even know where the other person was _going. _

But it was always easier to talk to strangers, he knew.

So Alex just nodded, encouraging his companion to go on.

"And, you know, he wants to protect me. He doesn't want me to get involved with dangerous stuff." Harry laughed ironically, rolling his eyes, though he had a fond look on his face.

Alex raised a curios eyebrow. "Do you do dangerous things often?"

The spectacled boy grinned a secretive grin. "You have _no _idea."

Alex shrugged and returned with a mischievous grin of his own. He thought that he might have a bit of a clue. He was just opening his mouth to ask another question when someone called his name.

"Alex!"

Both of the boys paused, turning to stare at the redheaded woman walking quickly towards them, a greatly relieved look on her face. It was, of course, Jack. Alex should have known that she would have eventually given in to her worry and gone searching for him.

"There you are!" She stopped at the end of their aisle and beamed at them both. "Everything all right?" The relief in her voice was clearly palpable to Alex, though she concealed it rather well. But he was a spy after all, sooo… Yeah.

Alex smiled. "Absolutely splendid."

He quirked an eyebrow, noticing Harry staring at his guardian with a completely blank face, yet undisguised fascination reflected in his eyes.

"Um, Jack, this is my new friend Harry." He waved a hand between the two of them. "Harry, this is my housekeeper, Jack."

Jack smiled kindly at the short, black haired teen. "Hey there! Befriended this idiot, I see." She winked at him as Alex rolled his eyes with a pout.

Harry flushed slightly. "Um, h-hello. Yes, though I suppose that he more befriended _me _than anything..."

A strange look crept over the American's face. "Did he _really?"_ _That _she certainly hadn't been expecting, Alex knew… He wasn't one to be very social.

The spy shrugged at the incredulous look Jack slipped his way. "Harry's cool."

"That's debatable!" A garbled voice spoke loudly from the row in front of them, and the large man that Harry had terrorized earlier turned around once more. He glared at them with an utterly furious look on his reddening face, his right eye twitching.

"I don't suppose you _know _just what kind of children your brat and his _friend _are, do you lady?" The man demanded, heaving himself up and out of his seat to stare angrily straight at Jack. He had been waiting for over four hours to say his piece, his fury slowly mounting and rising to a boil as he sat there, stewing in his ire, steaming mad. He'd been insulted straight to his face by two uppity children, and he was not one to stand for such things!

Alex and Harry, on the other hand, had almost completely forgotten that he was even there. After Harry had given him his brutal tongue lashing, he'd fallen silent, speaking no more, and the two teens had grown to think that he had just forgotten about them, like they had almost done with him.

The few people around them turned to stare at the small group, their gazes drawn by the heated words spoken by the man.

Jack's eyes widened for a split second in shocked outrage before they narrowed dangerously. Alex knew that the man had better watch out…

"Did you just call Alex a _brat?"_ She hissed acerbically.

"Yes I did!" The man practically spat, his lip curled up in a snarl. Alex decided to call him Bill, for no other reason other than that he needed to call him something and Bill was the first thing to come to mind.

"I had been on this damn plane for under half an hour when he and his idiot friend started making an unholy ruckus, disturbing the peace!" Bill cried. A young father diagonally across from them gasped and glared furiously at the man, a protective arm instinctively curling around his toddler next to him, incensed at the swearing that spewed from the other's lips.

Bill should have seen the danger, _sensed _it even. Alex was watching his red-headed friend, and he saw as the crimson haze of rage grew in her eyes, and he saw the pure _fury _bubbling up in her. Bill should have known to stop. But he didn't.

"You need to keep them in check! If you don't make them keep their filthy mouths closed for the rest of this flight, I swear to God above that I am going to-"

-_Smack!-_

The sound wasn't as loud it would have been elsewhere, the din of the passengers muffling the noise like a blanket, yet it was clear that it was a sound accompanied by pain. Already, a large red handprint was growing on a shocked Bill's right cheek.

"Don't you _dare_ finish that sentence, you worthless piece of trash!" Jack shouted amidst a rippling sea of gasps, drawing the attention of even more people. "You have _no right _to threaten either Alex or Harry!"

Bill snapped out of his shock and took a step towards the American, pupils dilated with utter rage, raising his hand as if to strike her. Alex saw red.

He leapt up out of his seat and grabbed the man's arm, simultaneously kneeing him in the back of his leg, forcing him to buckle. He hooked a foot around one of his ankles and _twisted_, spinning the man around and down, forcing his arm up behind his back.

It happened in the span of a few seconds. The young father had jumped up from his seat with all intentions of helping the red-headed woman, as had another woman, tall with dark hair. But their actions were unnecessary, they now knew, as they stared, wide-eyed, at the blond teenager pinning down the stocky man.

By now they the attention of the entire plane, eyes drawn to the commotion like vultures to rotting flesh. Loud murmurs rippled through the air as everyone stared at the scene, trying to piece together just what exactly had happened.

Derek Chaplin was among the onlookers. He was gaping, his eyes bulging, trying to make sense of what he'd just seen. He stood, half out of his seat, still in the action of getting up to go and hurry over to Jack. _The hell?_ He thought, dumbfounded.

Harry was in a similar position. He was frozen, shocked at the display of skill and speed that his friend had just displayed.

"_What _is going on here?!" A loud voice snapped, cutting through the clamor of the people, most of whom were half out of their seats, craning their necks to see what they could. A short woman in a pristine stewardess's outfit was striding purposefully towards them down the aisle from the front of the plane, followed directly by a handful more of flight attendants. They all looked rather upset, though their expressions were mingled with curiosity and confusion.

The short woman shouldered past the tall, dark haired woman and stopped directly in front of Jack. She glared at the scene, her facial expression not changing.

Jack glared back at her, Alex stared up at her expressionlessly, and Harry was watching her, his eyes narrowed. Bill just moaned.

"Young man, I am going to have to kindly ask you to let your fellow passenger go." She snapped at Alex, her hand twitching as if she itched to reach out and forcefully pull him off of Bill.

Alex scowled and let go of the whimpering man underneath him, standing up (though not before he gave Bill's arm one final, subtle twist).

"Hello ma'am." He said to her blandly, ignoring the groaning mass at his feet.

Another flight attendant came forward. "Excuse me, but what _exactly _is going _on _here?" She cried out incredulously. There was a black haired kid with creepy eyes just watching the scene, an angry looking red-headed woman glaring at the world, and a blond boy looking as if he didn't have a care in the world, standing above a behemoth of a man who was twitching on the floor, looking for all purposes as if he had been bowled over by a stampeding rhino. She was _seriously, _seriously confused…

"This _man_," Jack started loudly, gnashing her teeth, "has been _threatening _these two children here!"

The young father piped up. "I saw it, it's true! He was also swearing and making a God-awful scene! I'm surprised that nobody arrived sooner, to be honest." He looked at them all with a disapproving look on his face. His hand was placed comfortingly on his silent daughter's shoulder.

"That doesn't explain why he's on the floor." The first woman said coldly.

"He tried to hit Jack." Alex spoke up, his face betraying nothing, though a touch of fury echoed in his words. "I'd say that he's now on the level that he deserves."

Off to the side, Harry suppressed a snort.

"And so you what, body-slammed him?" The second woman asked, her eyebrows raised in bewilderment.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes, because little Alex here could _totally _have done that to big old Sam."

"Sam?" Alex blinked. "I've been calling him Bill. And please, don't call me little again." He smirked. "Honestly, like you can talk. I've seen _dogs_ taller than you."

"You mean bitches like you?" Harry taunted with a nasty grin.

Alex was opening his mouth to retort when he was interrupted for a second time that day.

"That is _quite _enough!" The first flight attendant cried, an angry red flush on her cheeks. "You three, with me!" She said, jerking a hand to gesture at Harry, Alex, and Jack. "And Melinda! Get the med pack and get Sam some help! He's been moaning nonstop for five minutes now!"

"Of course, Katy!" The second woman blurted, spinning to push her way through the crowd of flight attendants behind her as well as the curious onlookers.

"Call him Bill!" Alex called out after her.

Stewardess Katy glared ferociously at him and he coughed awkwardly. Harry snickered and Jack just continued to stare at her ward strangely, as she had been doing ever since he had gotten into his nonsensical argument with Harry.

"Follow. Me." Stewardess Katy snarled, whirling on her heel and marching towards the back of the plane.

The three exchanged looks and hurried after her, caught between wary looks and full out gaping from other passengers. Whispers buzzed through the air like angry hornets, and gossip spread like a spark igniting dry tinder.

Jack held her head high, refusing to be embarrassed or cowed. She was proud of what she had done, and she was damn well proud of what Alex had as well. Harry met as many eyes as he could, and smirked at the wide-eyed, curious looks that the people sent him. And Alex just walked on by, his hands in his pockets, a serene, blasé expression on his face.

When they reached the back of the plane, Stewardess Katy was waiting for them, her hands on her hips, an angry scowl marring her face.

"You two, here." She snapped, glaring at Jack and Harry, pointing to the right. "You, here." Alex, the left.

They sat, feeling slightly put-out.

"Are we in time-out?" Harry spoke up innocently, only the slightest hint of causticity coating his voice. Jack did not hesitate to elbow him.

Stewardess Katy's nostrils flared, and she struggled to keep her face calm. "Yes." She bit out. "Yes you are, so it would benefit y-"

The previously closed folding door to the bathroom suddenly scraped open with a loud _whump_, cutting off the stewardess's words.

A man shuffled out, muttering to himself, still in the process of zipping up his pants. "-my _kids _even, and they say, 'Oh, Santa's not real', but-" He suddenly noticed all four of them staring at him, varying expressions of amusement, confusion, and annoyance on their faces. He stopped speaking abruptly.

They all stared at each other for a moment. Then Stewardess Katy pointed down the aisle, without a word, an expression on her face that caused a bubble of terror to grow in the man's stomach. He spun abruptly and rushed down the indoor corridor, nearly stepping on Stewardess Melinda and Bill, who was still lying on the floor.

Stewardess Katy sighed deeply and rubbed her forehead. "You three… are going to stay here until we land."

Jack opened her mouth to protest, but the woman was having none of it. "Miss, please don't argue with me." She frowned severely at the American, her lips pressed together. "If you don't sit here, quietly, without causing any more problems, I think that you are going to be in a _whole_ lot of trouble when we land."

Alex and Harry exchanged looks. Well wasn't _this _just dandy…

* * *

**Alright! I would like to thank profusely 2FantasyLover2, yashendra2797, In-The-Shadow-Of-The-Robot, My-Name-Is-Classified, Moony the Mature One, and ptl4ever419! You guys are super awesome for reviewing and being so nice! :D You all deserve medals, for serious. :)**

**Ooh, and I should also probably clear up that Harry and Alex will never date. They are going to have a rather brotherly bond. An epic, awesome, brotherly bond. X) But if Harry ever ****_does _****date someone, it'll be a dude. But not Alex. **


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